Drinking-fountain.



R. M. SMYTHE.

DRINKING FOUNTAIN.

APPLICATION FILED OCT. I. 19H.

1 ,276,820 Patented Aug. 27, 1918.

WITNESSES:

BY I ATTOHN I RICHARD M. SMYTI-IE, 0F BROOKLYN, NEW YORK.

DRINKING-FOUNTAIN.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Aug. 27, 1918.

Application filed October 11, 1917. Serial No. 195,903.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, RICHARD M. SMY'rHE, a citizen of the United States, residing in Brooklyn borough, in the county of Kings, city and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Drinking-Fountains, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to drinking fountains, and an object thereof is to provide a fountain wherein danger of contamination and infection by the users is eliminated.

In the Various forms of drinking fountains now in use, it happens that after the lips of the user touch the water of the fountain, and before he begins to drink the water, there is an interval in which the running water of the fountain laves or bathes the lips, washing down therefrom any disease germs or infection that may be thereon, and the waste water containing this objectionable infection falls upon the metal portion of the drinking fountain, and there leaves a deposit with .which a subsequent user of the fountain may become infected through touching the metal part of the fountain with his lips either inadvertently or otherwise. In many instances, the spread of disease has been traced to such drinking fountains, especially in schools, and more especially in epidemics of scarlet fever; and it is also believed that other diseases, such as infantile paralysis, are spread in this way.

One of the principal features of my invention, therefore, consists in the construe tion of a fountain in which any Water that washes the lips of the user does not fall upon the exposed metal portion of the fountain, and, hence, can leave no deposit where such deposit can by any possibility come into contact with the lips of a' subsequent user.

To this end, I form a fountain in annular form, preferably in the shape of a hollow nozzle resembling a conical shell. The wall of the shell may be hollow, preferably hollow throughout, and the drinking water passes up through this hollow of the wall, and is discharged through an annular orifice at the top of the nozzle or shell. This discharge is directed upwardly and inwardly or centripetally on all sides, forming a rising sheet of water which is about conical in shape, although it is not essential in all cases that the discharge orifice be continuous. The pressure; of the water may be regulated, so that the cone of water will break and fall at or below its apex. All of the water falls within the large central hollow of the annular cone, and passes down through the same into a drain pipe; but none of the water descends upon the outer face of the cone, nor does the falling water commingle with the risin water. On the contrary, the water flows in a continuous stream from the discharge orifice to the waste pipe, and there is no liability of disease-bearing deposits being left upon the cone, or being retained even temporarily in the stream to the risk of the user.

The cone may be mounted upon branches forming a fork in a supplv pine, and the fountain may be very simply and inexpensively constructed, and readily put into use.

Other features and advantages will hereinafter appear.

In the accompanying drawings,

Figure 1 is a perspective view of a fountain embodying my invention, and illustrating the discharged water as forming a sheet which rises in cone form and then falls centrally through the. hollow nozzle into the drain.

Fig. 2 is a view of the fountain and pedestal, showing a knee-operated faucet in the water supply pipe rising centrally within the pedestal, although other forms of faucet may be employed.

Fig. 3 is a plan of the fountain and drainage bowl. r Fig. f is a central sectional elevation of the fountain.

From a base 10 may risea hollow pedestal 11, forming a drain for a bowl 12. Centrally within the pedestal may rise a supply pipe 13, which may terminate at its upper end in a forked arrangement comprising branches 14. Supported upon these branches is illustrated the preferred form of my improved nozzle 15, in. the form of a hollow or annular cone or conical shell, whose wall may be hollowed throughout, as at 16,v or the upward flow of the water which rises through the supply branches 14; the latter being in open communication with 16.

The nozzle 15 terminates in an annular discharge orifice 17, which throughout the annulus is illustrated as directed upwardly and inwardly, so that the water may be delivered upwardly and inwardly, in the form of a continuous conical sheet 18. At Fig. 1,

l9 designates the apex of this water cone, from whence the water descends at 20 through the hollow annular nozzle 15; the flow of the water being indicated by arrows at Fig. 4. It is not essential that the orifice be continuous in all cases, so long as the water is discharged upwardly and inwardly in a manner to fall within the annular nozzle or directrix, and so that any water that falls after contact with the lips of the user does not flow upon the exposed portions of the nozzle, but upon the inner or protected side thereof, where any germs or infection are carried safely away. It will also be seen that the stream flows in an unbroken or continuous course, as distinguished from fountains in which the stream is huddled, that is, in which the falling stream commingles with the rising stream, thus tending to retain impurities. The flow or course of the stream is uninterrupted from the discharge orifice to the waste pipe, this continuity being secured because the parts are so constructed or regulated that the discharge falls short of the apex of the drinking cone and therefore falls in a hollow stream within said drinki11 cone so that the drinkin oortion is an annular wall of water, from a portion of whlch the water is taken by the user. Hence there is no SOllCl mound of water in which there would be a possibility of the retention.

of impurities.

In the pedestal may be provided, at the A proper height, a faucet 21, having upper and lower knee plates 22, 23 for convenience of users of difierent statures, so that flow of water can be secured by merely pressing with the knee. This feature of the invention is also useful for other forms of fountain.. A fine drip hole 24; may perforate the bottom of the hollow wall of the cone nozzle, to empty the nozzle, to avoid an accumulation of stale, tepid water therein.

Variations may be resorted to within the' scope of the invention, and portions of the improvements may be used without others.

Having thus described my invention, I claim:

1. The combination of a drainage bowl, a Water supply pipe rising therefrom and terminating at its upper end in a fork, and a nozzle in the form of a conical shell carried upon the members of said fork, the wall of said shell being hollow and in open comthe cone and open at the top, for discharging the water upwardly and inwardly, the direction of the discharge being mainly upward, to produce a drinking-cone, said parts formed to cause the dischar e to fall short of the apex of the drinking-cone and fall in a hollow internal continuous stream.

3. A drinking-fountain comprising a hollow cone, having hollow walls, the hollow in the walls being closed at the bottom of the cone and open at the top, for discharging the water upwardly and inwardly, the direction of the discharge being mainly upward, to produce a drinking-cone, said parts formed to cause the discharge to fall short of the apex of the drinking-cone and fall in a hollow internal continuous stream, and means for supplying water to said cone including a water-distributing device connected to the base of the cone.

4. A drinking-fountain comprising a hollow cone, having hollow walls, the hollow in the walls being closed at the bottom of the cone and open at the top, for discha'rging the water upwardly and inwardly, the direction of the discharge being mainly upward, to produce a drinking-cone, said parts formed to cause the dischargeto fall short of the apex of the drinking-cone and fall in a hollowinternal continuous stream, a single supply-pipe for said cone, and connections from said supply-pipe to a plurality of points around the base of said cone to distribute the water.

5. The combination of a hollow cone comprising inner and outer side walls and a base connecting said walls, said walls separated at their tops to form an annular discharge-orifice, and the direction of the discharge being mainly upward, said parts formed to cause the discharge to fall short of .the apex of the drinkin -cone and fall in a hollow internal continuous stream, a supply-pipe, and means connected to the supply-pipe for distributing water around the cone. 7

6. A drinking-fountain having a discharge in the form of a truncated conical annular directrix, formed to direct the water mainly upward, to form a drinkingcone in which the discharge falls short of a point or apex where the sides of the directrix, if continued, would meet, and descends in a hollow internal stream.

7. An annular drinking-fountain in the connections from said attaching device to the base of said cone, for distributing water tinuous strea1n,.the hollow of said fountain 10 being closed at the bottom'of said converging sides, and means for supporting said fountain upon a supply-pipe.

RICHARD M. SMYTHE.

Witnesses Amos B. STILLMAN, THOMAS E. MILLER.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Iatents. Washington, D. 0. g 

